Prominent Kashmiri journalist Fahad Shah who was booked under black law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), a month ago, has been slapped with the same draconian act for the second time.
Fahad Shah’s counsel Umair Ronga told the media that his client and the editor-in-chief of news portal, The Kashmir Walla, was remanded to police custody for five days on 11 March, in a case filed against the news portal in Srinagar for its reporting in May 2020.
Fahad Shah, one of the prominent young journalists in the Valley, was arrested in the Srinagar case on 5 March, hours after he was granted bail by a Shopian court in a separate matter. This was the third time that Shah has been arrested since February 04. Indian police arrested Shah on February 04 on the charges of publishing anti-India content, and began investigating him for sedition and making statements causing public mischief under the Indian penal code and the UAPA.
On February 27, Shah was granted bail in that case, but Indian police re-arrested him in relation to The Kashmir Walla’s reporting on alleged official pressure on a school and began investigating him on provocation with intent to cause a riot and publishing statements conducive to public mischief, both crimes under the Indian penal code.
On March 06, the Shopian judicial magistrate granted bail to Shah but the Indian police re-arrested him in relation to The Kashmir Walla’s reporting on a fake encounter in May 2020.
It is to mention here that in February, 57 publications, press freedom groups including Committee to Protect Journalist, and human rights organisations wrote a letter to Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir demanding release of Fahad Shah and other Kashmiri journalists, Sajad Gul, Aasif Sultan and Manan Gulzar Dar.—KMS
